QINYUAN, China (AP) — Rescuers in northern China looked for survivors Sunday after the country's deadliest coal mine explosion in recent years killed at least 82 people.
An Associated Press reporter witnessed police and security guarding the entrance to the mining facility located in Qinyuan county in the city of Changzhi as emergency vehicles were on site.
Hundreds of rescuers and medical personnel were sent to help with rescue efforts, state media reported.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a thorough investigation and accountability of those responsible, after the deadly gas explosion happened Friday evening at the Liushenyu coal mine in the province of Shanxi.
Two were missing and dozens of miners were hospitalized, local officials said late Saturday at a news conference. The death toll was revised down from 90, with officials blaming “chaotic” scenes in the aftermath and inaccurate information provided by the mine operator as the reason.
Some hospitalized miners recalled seeing smoke when the accident happened and blacking out, according to state media reports.
The coal mine has “seriously” violated the law, according to local officials, although they did not elaborate on the specific violations. China’s state broadcaster CCTV earlier reported that blueprints provided by the Liushenyu coal mine did not match the actual layout, which hampered rescue efforts.
The official Xinhua News Agency said those responsible for the company behind the mine accident had been “placed under control.”
Local authorities said following the accident that there would be a “comprehensive, blanket” inspection of the coal mining sector that would include checks of coal mines’ gas drainage, ventilation, safety monitoring systems and their underground layouts.
The inland Shanxi province, located southwest of China’s capital, Beijing, with a population of around 34 million, is China’s main coal-mining province where hundreds of thousands of miners work.
A broader inspection of coal mines could put pressure on the province’s ability to produce its annual capacity of around 1.3 billion tons of coal, which accounts for nearly a third of China’s total.
Coal remains a major energy source in China, given its high availability and low cost, even as the country accelerates its green energy transition. Mining accidents were common and authorities had implemented measures to help improve safety over the past years.
Associated Press writer Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
An emergency vehicle is seen leaving from the Liushenyu coal mine facility in Qinyuan county in Changzhi, northern China's Shanxi province on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/E. Eduardo Castillo)
Police officers at a checkpoint stop cars at the entrance to the Liushenyu coal mine facility in Qinyuan county in Changzhi, northern China's Shanxi province on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/E. Eduardo Castillo)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia attacked Kyiv with missiles and drones overnight Sunday in an intense assault that shook buildings across the city center, including near government offices, residential buildings and schools.
At least two people were killed and 33 people were injured, local authorities said, citing preliminary figures. Air raid sirens blared through the night as smoke billowed across the city from strikes. Associated Press reporters heard powerful explosions near the city center and close to government buildings.
The attack was ongoing by sunrise Sunday, with more missiles and drones expected to reach Kyiv.
Damage was recorded across 40 locations across several districts of the capital including residential buildings, Kyiv military administration head Tymur Tkachenko said in a Telegram post.
“It was a terrible night, and there had never been anything like it in the entire war," said Kyiv resident Svitlana Onofryichuk, 55, who has worked in the market that was damaged for 22 years.
“I am very sorry that I have to say goodbye to Kyiv now, I am not staying there anymore, there is no possibility," she added. “My job is gone, everything is gone, everything has burned down.”
Yevhen Zosin, 74, a Kyiv resident who witnessed the attack, said the moment he heard the explosion he rushed to take his dog.
“Then there was another explosion and she and I were thrown back like a pin by the shock wave. We both survived, she and I. My apartment was blown to pieces,” he said.
In Kyiv’s Shevchenko district, a five-story residential building was hit, which caused a fire, and one person was killed, Ukraine's state emergency service reported.
A school building was damaged by an attack while people sheltered inside, Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said. Local authorities reported supermarkets and warehouses across the city also were damaged.
Multiple communities recorded damage throughout the Kyiv region, according to Mykola Kalashnyk, the regional governor.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia was planning to use the hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile, citing intelligence from the U.S. and Western partners. Ukraine's Air Force later warned of a possible launch of the Oreshnik.
It was not immediately clear if the missile had been used in the overnight attack.
Russia first used the multiple-warhead Oreshnik on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in November 2024. It was used a second time in January in the western Lviv region.
President Vladimir Putin said the Oreshnik, which means “hazelnut tree” in Russian, streaks at 10 times the speed of sound, or Mach 10, and is capable of destroying underground bunkers “three, four or more floors down.”
The weapon travels “like a meteorite” and is immune to any missile defense system, Putin said, adding that several such missiles, even fitted with conventional warheads, could be as devastating as a nuclear strike.
Rescue workers put out a fire of residential building destroyed after a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
An injured woman is helped by A Red Cross volunteer inside a shelter after a Russian strike on residential neighbourhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A man carries a box from a burning trade center after a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Red Cross volunteers carry an injured woman into an ambulance after a Russian strike on a residential neighborhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Iryna and Ihor react as they look at their house destroyed after a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a prayer house of a local Protestant community of Evangelical Christian Baptists burns following a Russian air attack in Balakliia, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire at a prayer house of a local Protestant community of Evangelical Christian Baptists following Russian air attack in Balakliia, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a prayer house of a local Protestant community of Evangelical Christian Baptists burns following a Russian air attack in Balakliia, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire at a prayer house of a local Protestant community of Evangelical Christian Baptists following Russian air attack in Balakliia, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
